Our 4yr old son wants his own tank

Boston rd. Petco was having a dollar per gallon sale on tanks.

 

Think about a orb or fluval Chi they are inexpensive put together kits that look good and you don't have to add anything but good water and fish. Goldfish are dirty little suckers so if you don't mind buying a heater I would consider a tropical fish or two. They have neon tetra and guppies that look a lot like salt water fish. You will have a lot less water changes. I would use filtered water too, less trouble in the end. My nephew liked my tank so much I got him a Chi for Christmas, he uses it like a night light in his room.

 

My 4 year old niece knows most of the coral in my tank. One of my tanks is pretty low (just right for her) and she comes in and sits with me in the mornings and looks at my tank. It's pretty amazing how much she knows and sees in my tank, if things are looking rough she'll tell me right off! I'm trying to get her to start helping with the water changes in her beta fish bowl, but I think shes just a little too young to be interested in really doing that part as anything more than a once in a while thing to do with dad. I'm sure she will have an amazing tank when she's around 10-15. It's great for kids to be able to see such a complete ecosystem as a reef as their growing up. She makes connections about what life would be like if we had a better cuc in our cities, and say some pretty interesting things about how our world is like our reefs.

 

imo I'd go with something other than goldfish. Most of them get huge and there isn't much of a selection to choose from for your kid. He might want something else like corys or glofish but won't be able to since it is coldwater.

Also, I'd personally go with a 10-20 or so since bigger means easier and can have more than a couple fish, if it fits in his room.


EDIT: Oh, also I'd go with sand if you get something other than goldfish since gravel can be too rough on catfish and other bottom dwellers.

 

Do it! Get him hooked and keep him interested. My son, who is now 4 has been a part of all of my builds. He started asking about a tank in his room last summer so I got him a 2.5 gallon kit and a pair of Beta's. He never misses a feeding and we do a water change on his tank every week when I do mine on my reef. He even realized what a pain it is to remember to turn his fishes light on and off so asked me for "one of them boxes that the light plugs to that make the lights go on and off alone".

 

small tanks and goldfish don't mix.

 

Gold fish and small tank don't go well together..

Dirty/mess fish in general and tend to grow a lot larger then people think.

Less you are think the fansy goldfish .. (still a messy fish)

Maybe look at some Platties or guppies if thinking small tank. Just make sure all male unless you want population explosion.

 

I can't wait until I can do that with my niece. Bring her over to the dark side and her mom will hate me LOL

 

LOL...sounds like it's time to get him an AC Jr.

My son is the reason I setup my current reef after being out of the hobby for a while, he was into the movie Finding Nemo, he picked all the fish and quite a few of the corals we have...but it's always been "our" tank...he's looking for "my" tank now

I don't care too much for goldfish either but that's what he like so I have to get one. He like the ones with the crown on their heads with fat bodies.....not sure what they are called.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone, looks like I'm heading to the store tonight for a tank. I'm thinking at least a 5-10g

 

If that's you're attitude toward this then I wouldn't get him a tank. If your son doesn't understand that a fish is too big and he can't have it, either you have not get a tank at all or be the boss and tell him he can't for the reasons.

You're getting him a fish that gets HUGE. You might as well be getting a baby reef shark for a biocube.